Gray Vireo
Gray Vireo
Vireo vicinior
At a Glance
Few birds are as plain as the Gray Vireo, a drab summer resident of juniper woods and open brush in the Great Basin region. What it lacks in color, however, it makes up for with personality, hopping around actively in the scrub, singing, and flopping its tail about. Sometimes the bird seems unafraid, coming quite close to birders who stand still in its habitat.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Perching Birds, Vireos
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Desert and Arid Habitats, Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Region
California, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, Texas
Behavior
Direct Flight, Flitter, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
560.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
A short-distance migrant, wintering in northwestern Mexico.
Description
5-5 3/4" (13-15 cm). Gray above, whitish below, with narrow white eye-ring, usually one faint wing-bar. Much plainer than Plumbeous Vireo. Looks slightly long-tailed, often flips tail up and down.
Size
About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Gray, White
Wing Shape
Rounded
Tail Shape
Notched, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
Song is a series of 4-6 phrases with a pause between each phrase and a much longer pause between stanzas: cheerio . . . che-whew . . . chireep? . . . cheerio.
Call Pattern
Falling, Flat, Undulating
Call Type
Buzz, Chirp/Chip, Whistle
Habitat
Brushy mountain slopes, mesas, open chaparral, scrub oak, junipers. Breeds in dry thorn scrub, chaparral, pinyon-juniper and oak-juniper scrub, or sagebrush and mesquites of arid foothills and mesas, between 3,000-6,500' elevation. In winter, in northwest Mexico, found near coast in dry thorn scrub of elephant trees and giant cacti.
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Behavior
Eggs
4, sometimes 3-5. Pinkish-white with brown specks scattered near large end. Incubation is by both parents, 13-14 days. Cowbirds frequently lay eggs in nests of this species. Gray Vireos will sometimes deal with such parasitism by constructing second floor of nest over cowbird eggs.
Young
Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave the nest 13-14 days after hatching. 2 broods per year.
Feeding Behavior
Usually forages within 5' of the ground, moving about actively in brush on dry slopes. Also does some foraging on the ground. In winter, individuals defend feeding territories, driving away others of their own kind.
Diet
Insects and fruits. During the breeding season, feeds mostly on insects, including beetles, caterpillars, small moths, bugs, treehoppers, tree crickets, dobsonflies, cicadas, grasshoppers, and many others. In winter, eats many berries, especially those of elephant trees, in addition to insects.
Nesting
Male defends nesting territory by singing through much of breeding season. Nest: Placed in shrub, frequently oak or juniper, 1-12' from ground, but most commonly 2-8' up. Nest is supported by the rim woven onto a horizontal forked twig. Nest (built by both sexes) is a deep, rounded cup made of weeds, shreds of bark, grass stems, leaves, and plant fibers; bound with spiderwebs, and lined with fine grass.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Population status not well known, but probably stable.
Climate Threats Facing the Gray Vireo
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.